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Managers hate it when people leave, not only because it means enduring all that comes with hiring a replacement, but because it also brings forth a litany of challenges, ranging from plummeting productivity and ballooning training costs to the erosion of team morale and copycat coworkers quitting. Employee turnover is expensive, according to Leigh Branham, founder of Keeping the People Inc. and author of three books on employee engagement and retention.
In remote and hybrid work environments resignations can come as big surprises because occasionally “seeing workers over Zoom and reading comments on Slack or Teams doesn’t offer the same visibility as managing by walking around. Managers need good visibility and data,” said Joshua Merrill, co-founder and CEO of Confirm, a software company whose product aims to change performance reviews for the new world of work.
To get that information, some managers have demanded that remote workers come into the office so that they can see, motivate and lead employees in person. Others have resorted to spying on their employees by reading their Slacks, counting their keystrokes, monitoring which websites they visit, taking screenshots and more. They then use that information to praise or scold them periodically and in performance reviews.
There has to be a better way to manage, provide guidance, rate and reward employees. This is where organizational network analysis (ONA) and modern work meet. ONA is a methodological approach that not only holds the promise of modernizing performance assessment, but it also wields the capability to anticipate impending employee turnover.
How Organizational Network Analysis Works
ONA is a method that maps and measures the social interactions among employees, teams and departments. It periodically gathers data on each worker by asking questions of team members like “Who do you go to for help and advice? Who do you see making a difference? Who do you believe needs additional support and why?” Using this data, as well as data available in digital tools, it reveals who is connected to whom, how often they communicate, and how influential and helpful they are. Analyzing these networks helps you gain valuable insights into the following aspects:
- Network Position: Some employees are more central than others in the network, meaning they have more connections and influence. These employees are often key sources of information, collaboration and innovation. They also tend to be more satisfied with their jobs and less likely to leave (except in cases where they are overextended due to their central position).
- Turnover Intention: Some employees are more peripheral than others in the network, meaning they have fewer connections and influence. These employees may feel isolated, underutilized or overlooked. External opportunities may tempt these employees more, making them more likely to quit. ONA can help identify these different types of employees and design interventions to support them. Or they might be enlightened to make changes on their own.
“Each individual is offered an individualized view of their data which they can use to modify their behavior. So, for example, if I am doing great work but no one sees it, I may want to find a way to make it more visible,” said Merrill. In collaborative environments, “It’s not just about what you know, but what you show,” he said.
He also noted that, if for example, people aren’t going to employees who have been working at the company the longest, it may be warranted to find a way to help them share the knowledge they've gained over the years into how things work at the company.
When managers see the data of those they lead, they can:
- Recognize and reward the central employees for their contributions and leadership.
- Provide mentoring and coaching to the peripheral employees to help them develop their skills and networks.
- Create opportunities for cross-functional collaboration and knowledge sharing among different groups of employees.
- Monitor the changes in the network over time and evaluate the impact of their actions.
Proponents of ONA say that gathering data on a quarterly basis and then providing workers and managers access to that data is far superior to 360 reviews where workers pick the co-workers/friends to provide data for evaluation.
Related Article: Why Collaboration Analytics Is Crucial to the Employee Experience
Predicting Attrition with ONA
Academics, researchers, consultants and others have written about how companies can use organizational network analysis to untangle the complex web of social connections interwoven within their organizations. These connections, they say, unveil insights into job satisfaction, performance dynamics and employee attrition.
ONA constructs a model to flag employees at risk of seeking greener pastures. A multitude of studies offer proof:
- A University of Pennsylvania study found a correlation between employees connected to recent departures and a higher likelihood that they will also leave.
- A University of California, Berkeley study discussed the “protective aura” of central network positions, and how they fend off attrition.
- A University of Michigan study underscored the pull of external job prospects on employees privy to them.
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ONA's attrition prediction capabilities offer a range of benefits to management at higher levels:
- ONA can serve as an alarm, giving organizations a heads-up about upcoming departures, so they can step in and act at the right time.
- Equipped with ONA insights, organizations can create interventions with greater precision, addressing employees most susceptible to the allure of leaving.
- By reducing attrition, organizations can protect themselves against the financial turbulence created by employee exodus.
Related Article: Employee Stay Interviews: The Key to Retention?
Managing in the Future of Work
Remote, hybrid and collaborative workplaces beg for a new form of management. The information that needs to be measured and shared has changed so that both individual workers and their leaders have visibility not only to their results but the journey along the way. Weaving innovation and compassion, ONA promises to bring in an era of empowered talent, heightened engagement and opportunities for mastery.
